Why experts say COVID-19 contact tracing may be more valuable than ever

As many states are rolling back COVID-19 restrictions, experts say this summer could be a crucial moment for contact tracing,

Many states are rolling back restrictions and masking guidance now that just over half of American adults are vaccinated against COVID-19. But public health experts say this summer could be a crucial moment for contact tracing -- the process of identifying those exposed to communicable infectious disease. Public health experts say that even as cases go down, contact tracing is one of the keys to controlling COVID-19. “I really think this is contact tracing's moment, because those original bottlenecks that were preventing us from being able to really impact transmission have been essentially eliminated in most places," said Melissa Boyette, contact tracing technical adviser for the US COVID-19 Response Program with Resolve to Save Lives. And even with states reopening, some public health departments say their work isn’t done -- in fact, they say, the real work to end the pandemic is just now getting started.